State of OL

[SilverStarCowboy]

This D-line needs so many resources thrown at it that to me there is really no other option right now.

Safety has to be a real concern. DT is a mess. The way we've been Drafting I'm hoping for a OL by the 1st, 2nd round..... or 3rd.

Maybe looking at best available player at DT, S, OL in all the early rounds.

With all the energy spent on the Defensive Backfield, moving Safety down to the 2nd or 3rd could be optimal for Salary Cap reasons.

 

[LatinMind]

No, I'm thinking a player matures as he gets older and gains experience in the league and eventually enters what I've dubbed secretly as his "prime".

Dez Bryant is better today than he was a year ago. Has nothing to do with continuity. It's talent developing and gaining experience.

Free was helped more this year. Bernadeau was a spot starter. He was better than last year but still not good. It's ridiculous to think all the 2012 OL needed was continuity or even that it was a big factor in their performance. That 5 collectively sucked. Which is why the Cowboys replaced 3 of the 5 this year.

well of course every player needs to mature. you have to remember tyron and free were switched again last yr and that messed with OL footing. Gurode was a classic example. for the first 3 yrs of his career parcells didnt know if he wanted him to play G or C and kept switching him. When they decided to leave him at C he fliurished. Fans seem to think talent is everything. But hard work and continuity will be quoted by more players then anything else.

Why are you referencing 2012 with your entire post? Its 2013 that i was talking about. And in 2013 Dallas had 4 players play 99% of their snaps. While Mack took 66%. No reason to think this OL will even be better next yr.

 

[Risen Star]

I agree about Selvie but think Hayden is a stop gap at defensive tackle. I don't think they're putting a high concern grade on safety through the draft--maybe more so through free agency.

They may see Wilcox and Church as their starting safeties going forward. I agree.

 

[Risen Star]

well of course every player needs to mature. you have to remember tyron and free were switched again last yr and that messed with OL footing. Gurode was a classic example. for the first 3 yrs of his career parcells didnt know if he wanted him to play G or C and kept switching him. When they decided to leave him at C he fliurished. Fans seem to think talent is everything. But hard work and continuity will be quoted by more players then anything else.

Why are you referencing 2012 with your entire post? Its 2013 that i was talking about. And in 2013 Dallas had 4 players play 99% of their snaps. While Mack took 66%. No reason to think this OL will even be better next yr.

This line should be better next year if Leary holds up and Waters has another year in him. I expect Smith to be even better and I know Frederick will be.

I actually like Bernadeau. As a C/G backup. He keeps Phil Costa from ever seeing the field.

The arrow's up. No question about it. But one injury could change that.

 

[LatinMind]

This line should be better next year if Leary holds up and Waters has another year in him. I expect Smith to be even better and I know Frederick will be.

I actually like Bernadeau. As a C/G backup. He keeps Phil Costa from ever seeing the field.

The arrow's up. No question about it. But one injury could change that.

Leary is fine. He actually shows alot of range in reaching them Lbers in the run game. He will be better next yr. Waters IMO is not a need with Mack. The way he played after Waters got hurt theres no way he goes back to the bench. He's younger and he excelled. You dont reward that by benching him. you move on from waters and draft depth. But you do that in middle to late rounds. I Think Dallas releases Costa. And draft a C late. Usually centers can be had in later rounds. Fredrick was just really that good in college. And it showed this yr.

Chris Watt
Jon Halapio
Brandon Linder
Brandon Thomas
These Gs can all be had from round 4 on. Solid depth

 

[Tabascocat]

We can live with the same line another season as long as the focus is on defense, from tackles, to linebackers to the safety. Waters may be back, IDK. We need to somehow fix the def line this off-season.

 

[Idgit]

I'm considering this thread conclusive evidence that some people simply don't pay any attention to what actually goes on on an offensive line. Nor do they bother to even try to be consistent with anything they've preached ad nauseum any dozens and dozens of threads over the last three years. It's just a simple pivot (we were just talking about DL, weren't we?) and a truckload or two of willful fantasy and, guess what? We were never wrong to begin with.

"By the way, I know I *said* OL, but it was the DL/LB/S position I thought was going to be the death of us, all along!!!! Jerry Jones. Play calling. Trainees."

Sigh.

 

[xwalker]

The interior depth is not good. I do think we might be looking to develop Weems into a G in the off-season to relieve some of that. But it certainly is an area of concern.

Yes, he was reported to practice some at Guard. I don't know to what extent.

He is big, powerful and athletic and not too tall for OG at 6-5.

In the 2013 training camp he reminded me of Leary from 2012. You could easily see the NFL physical ability but the technique/awareness needed a lot of work.

 

[sbark]

Hire Waters as an assistant coach--along the lines of Leon Lett. He had a positive effect on all 3 players around him, that even held after he got hurt.

Player evaluation---they need to evaluate their criteria on the lower round OLine: they had not hit on a development player below round 3 for what?....nearly a decade, they could probably let Waters help there also, as he came thru Dallas as a TE-cut-and then All Pro in KC as aOline. Whatever they are prioritizing in their OLine piks wasn't panning out.

 

[jnday]

I love it when people stand on the podium and scream that a player is a bum and would only get exposed the more he plays. Then when that player (Mack) gets more exposure and only keeps playing better, they're still obstinate with their opinions. Lol. They sound like kids closing their eyes, covering their years up and just saying "No, no, no!"

I agree with those who say we need to draft more interior linemen because of the injury history of our guards. But what is it about Mack's play this year that would make anyone say he doesn't deserve 2.7 mil or he's a back up at best?

This is a young, talented line and there's no reason to believe that-as long as they stay healthy-they won't get better.

Tyron is all of 23. Enough said!

Leary played LT in college and played G for the first time when he got here. He's a big man with LT feet and arms almost as freakishly long as Tyron's (who can used another off season to reshape his body). As long as that knee holds up he's going to be much improved.

Frederick was a rookie who the Giants said they thought they could take advantage of and then realized that wasn't the case. The Mangold comparisons don't sound so ridiculous now. With how conscientious he is how wouldn't get get better.

Mack was gonna be a starter in Carolina but wasn't dependable because of his injury history. This is the one big caveat with him. However, this is the first offseason he'll be going into not requiring surgery and looking to fully participate. He's a big, powerful, athletic guard. His play this season, along with Carl Nick's rocky stint in Tampa so far, justifies the offseason signings of he and Livings IMO.

The only reason Free is not being heralded as a top player is because people still have memories of last year. I don't think people realize just how good the KC and St Louis D-lines are. Those guys did nothing against us, for the most part, mainly due to Free and Tyron taking care of Long/Quinn and Houston/Ali. Going into his 3rd year at RT, I think he'll prove to be a true staple on this line. He's always had the feet; this year he played with technique to anchor. His confidence is on a crescendo.

Mack had the starting job in Carolina and lost it due to the same reasons that has made him a questionable starter in Dallas. He is inconsistent and plays soft. It has been this way his whole career. Injuries were a small problem compared to his on-field problems. He played well in spurts this year, but I don't trust him to play that way all the time.

 

[cowboys1981]

Use free agency to fill needs and draft to grab the BPA in each round.

 

[SportsGuru80]

I second this. No more "we are set at this position for years" nonsense. Draft the best available talent even if it's redundant to foster intense competition across the board.

Competition breeds success!

 

[supercowboy8]

I would go BPA early for OL if one i there that os better than the DL get him. Its a mistake to pas on a better rated player at a position of need to reach for a player at a greater need.

Also OT and OG are very deep in this draft and I have no problem going defense early and going with our same line starting next year and draft some good players later to develop.

My later OL players are. 3rd round and later.
OT Morgan Moses
OT Jack Mewhort
OT Billy Turner(might be better at OG)
OT Seantreal Henderson

OG Brandond Linder
OG Wesley Johnson
OG Kareem Edwards

 

[crashintonickdm]

Fredrick was a home run shot.

Free impressed me from the start of last offseason when he realized he wasn't worth what he was getting paid. he took a pay cut and proceeded to play better. thats a team player.

 

[burmafrd]

Mack had the starting job in Carolina and lost it due to the same reasons that has made him a questionable starter in Dallas. He is inconsistent and plays soft. It has been this way his whole career. Injuries were a small problem compared to his on-field problems. He played well in spurts this year, but I don't trust him to play that way all the time.

if you notice those proclaiming the O line is fixed were some of the same suspects that claimed all you needed was continuity LAST year. Well guess what? Talent will ALWAYS be more important than continuity. We upgraded MASSIVELY at center- hard to exaggerate how much a difference THAT makes.

Free started out playing as good as he ever has - a lot of that was due to the scheme shift and then Waters - who even before he was playing was having an effect. It is noticeable that as soon as Waters went down Free started to backslide. He seemed to stabilize later on but he was not playing as well towards the end as the beginning of the season.
Bernie played very well- for him. But despite bleatings to the contrary it was NOT injury problems that made him inconsistent. He is just that way.

You will see those making the most noise about the O line being fixed were the same ones claiming we did not need to do anything other then keep playing the same players LAST year.

Tron turned the corner and is just beginning what I believe will be a period of the finest LT play this franchise has ever seen.

I really like Leary's attitude but his knees will give out- just do not know when. Already towards the end of the season he had to cut down practice time to rest them. NOT a good sign.

We need to get a good starting guard in the draft this year and get Waters back. We still have lousy depth in the middle.

 

[Galian Beast]

We need to make every effort to bring Henry Melton in here when he can pass a physical. That solves 25% of the problem.

Depending on what Jared Allen is looking for I might go after him as well. Outside of Allen, I'm not sure what our options are to get an impact player on the outside.

 

[burmafrd]

pass rush. That is the key. For the D we need to get a pass rush back somehow someway. That to me most likely means a DE that can get us double digit sacks and constant pressure. Those are about as hard to find as Franchise QBs. But we need one bad.

 

[SilverStarCowboy]

Romo and our season wasn't ended because of the OLine.

Seriously, really?

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I like our starting OL but we definitely need depth. I still want to the top 2 picks to go to DT/DE but we need some depth via draft and free agency.

 

[gimmesix]

Last yr at this time people were saying the OL had to be blown up. Jerry Jones had destoryed everything blah blah blah. Dallas made 1 change in the offseason drafting Fredrick and signed Waters during the season.

Tyron, Free, stayed where they were. Leary had spent his rookie yr developing. Seems the talent they said he had wasnt overrated. Leary from the start of camp showed he was going to start. He started out slow with a injury but came back and ended up 990 of Dallas' 997 offensive plays. All this from a guy who didnt get drafted because they said his knee wouldnt hold up.

It showed what happens when an OL can play the season together without injuries issues. Here are the total snap counts for OL players. total offensive naps the Cowboys had this yr was 997

Doug Free 997
Travis Fredrick 997
Tyron Smith 995
Ronald Leary 990
Mackenzie Bernadeau 675
Brian Waters 329
Jeremy Parnell 20
Phil Costa 1

Its clear continuity can do alot for a core. Four OL with 990 plays or more out of 997 is a great.

This OL was fixed with little change just alot of development and alot of healthy players being on the field instead of in the trainers room.

People probably don't give Jones and the Dallas staff enough credit for addressing this glaring problem and essentially fixing it.

The Frederick pick was mocked and turned out well.

Keeping Free was mocked and turned out well.

Praising Leary was mocked and turned out well.

Bernadeau played better than I expected him to this year (after settling in).

Smith lived up to his pick and promise to be a Pro Bowler.

Hopefully, the team can do just as well in addressing the defensive line this year.